SCOTT MACNAB

With just ten days until the crunch referendum, Nicola Sturgeon has told Scots their vote can “make the difference” amid growing fears the UK will vote to leave the EU.

The First Minister has called for a “wake-up call” among traditional working class voters to the threat of Brexit and admitted the result is now “in the balance” after a series of polls suggested the Remain campaign is on the verge of defeat.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown will today unveil plans to provide extra support for communities facing pressure from migration as part of a push to mobilise the party’s traditional supporters and “save” the ailing Remain campaign.

David Cameron and other prominent Conservative pro-EU figures are expected to take a back seat in the final stages of the campaign in what is a coordinated effort to shift the focus of the fight and woo undecided voters.

Senior Labour figures yesterday admitted that they are “out of touch” with its voters on the issue, with a growing number of working class voters believed to be coming out for Leave. The dominant role of figures like David Cameron and George Osborne in the Remain camp and the “blue on blue” Tory infighting is failing to address concerns such as immigration, it is believed.

Ms Sturgeon today stepped up the drive north of the Border with a direct appeal to Scots.“With ten days to go until the referendum, the result of this vote is in the balance,” she said. “Polls showing a lead for ‘Brexit’ should act as a wake-up call to anyone who assumed that it would be an easy win for the Remain side.

“And Scotland’s voice could help to make the difference in this contest, especially if the result is as close as some polls suggest. While I take nothing for granted, I believe Scotland will vote strongly to stay part of Europe – and that Scottish voters could increase the margin of victory for Remain.”

Mr Brown said the positive case for a Remain vote had been squeezed out by media coverage of bitter fighting between rival Tories and urgently needed to be made to show people would be “better off”.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the party had ten days to “save” the campaign.

“It is time now for us to step our efforts up,” Mr Brown said, adding that he had drawn up “detailed proposals” to put to the country in the closing days of the campaign.

“We have got to show people the positive benefits –that you are not voting for the status quo, you are not voting for insecurity.”